Michal Osterweil
osterwei@email.unc.edu
(919) 225-3433
105 Dillard St.
Carrboro, North Carolina 27510
Education
PhD, 2010, Department of Anthropology, UNC-Chapel Hill
w/ Graduate Certificate in Cultural Studies
MA, Department of Anthropology, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2004
BA, Cultural Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill; May 2001, with Highest Honors
Areas of Interest
Social movements- Americas, Italy, alter-globalization; globalization and international
studies; global democracy; feminist theory; collaborative ethnographic methods and
knowledge-production; cultural studies.
Awards and Grants
Honigmann Graduate Prize in Sociocultural Anthropology, 2009. Dept of Anthropology, UNC-CH
Future Faculty Fellowship, Center for Teaching and Learning, 2008. UNC-CH.
Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, 2007, Italy
Off Campus Dissertation Fellowship, Fall 2006, Graduate School, UNC CH
Mellon Travel Grant, 2005. Institute for Latin American Studies, UNC, CH
Fulbright Scholar, Italy, 2003-2004;
NSF Graduate Fellowship 2002- 2006;
Graduate Merit Assistantship, Graduate School, UNC-CH, 2001-2002;
FLAS Scholarship, Bologna, Italy, Summer 2002; UCIS Travel Grant, UNC- Chapel Hill, Italy, 2002;
Morehead Scholarship, UNC Chapel Hill, 1997-2001; Phi Beta Kappa; Dean’s List; NC Fellows;
NCSC; Order of Golden Valkrees.
Fieldwork experience
Fieldwork in Italy. May-Dec 2007; Fall 2006, Sept 2003 - July 2004; Nov 2002 - March
2003; May - Aug 2002
Fieldwork on transnational events: Social Forums: Florence Nov 2002; Paris Nov 2003,
London Oct 2004; World Social Forum, Porto Alegre: Jan 2003; Jan 2005; Counter-Summit
Protests & misc: Cancun Sept 2003; Heilingdamm June 2007; International EncuentroChiapas, 2007.
“Meanings of politics among Youth” (Havana, Cuba: June-Aug 1999; Valparaiso and
Santiago, Chile: Feb –June 1999)
Teaching experience
(2009-2010) Lead Anthropology Faculty, and Comparative Social Movements Faculty, International
Honor’s Program, Re-thinking Globalization: Nature, Culture and Justice (www.ihp.edu).
Coordinator for Anthropology Fields and Methods course in five countries, syllabus development
and teaching in US, New Zealand and Mexico.
(2009) Course Instructor, Anth 101: Introduction to Anthropology; Second Summer Session,
Department of Anthropology, UNC Chapel Hill.
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(2008-2009) Course Instructor, INTS 380: Social Theory and Cultural Diversity, Curriculum in
International and Area Studies, Fall 2008 & Spring 2009, UNC Chapel Hill. Designed syllabus
combining theoretical readings with experiential learning projects in historically African American
neighborhood.
(2008) Teaching Assistant, Anth 142: Local Cultures/Global Forces, Spring 2008. Dept. of
Anthropology, UNC-Chapel Hill.
(2006, 2007) Course Instructor, LTAM-90/697: Latin American Social Movements, Latin American
Studies, Spring 2006 & 2007, UNC CH. Created and taught original syllabus for capstone research
seminar for LAS major.
(2001) Undergraduate Instructor, “Identity, Democracy and Difference” UNC Chapel Hill, Spring
Semester
Publications________________________________________________________
Book Chapters:
(forthcoming) with Maria Isabel Casas Cortes and Dana Powell. “Transformations in Engaged
Ethnography: Knowledge, Networks and Social movements,” in Jeffrey Juris and Alex
Khasnabish, eds. Movements: activism, ethnography, and the transnational. Durham: Duke
University Press.
(forthcoming)“Becoming-woman: between theory, practice and potentiality", in Jai Sen,
and Peter Waterman, Global Justice Movement: Challenging Empires Vol 2, New Delhi:
Open World Books.
(2009) with Escobar, Arturo. “Social Movements and the Politics of the Virtual Deleuzian
Strategies” in Casper Bruun Jensen and Kjetil Rödje, eds. Deleuzian Intersections in
Science, Technology and Anthropology. pp. 187-217. Oxford: Berghanh
(2008) “A Different (Kind of) Politics is Possible: Conflict and Problem(s) at the USSF” in
Judith Blau and Marina Karides (eds), The World and US Social Forums: A Better World is
Possible and Necessary. Leiden: Brill, pp 71-89.
(2007) “Global Uprisings: Towards a Politics of the Artisan” with Graeme Chesters in
Graeber, David and Shukatis, Stephven (eds) Constituent Imagination: Militant
Investigation // Collective Theorization. Oakland and Edinburgh: AK Press, pp. 253-262.
(2005) “Place-based globalism: Locating Women in the Alternative Globalization Movement”
in Wendy Harcourt and Arturo Escobar (eds), Women and the Politics of Place, pp. 174-189,
Bloomfield: Kumarian Press. In Spanish edition too.
(2005) “Teoria dins/des de/per als moviments socials” in Recerca Activista I Moviments
Socials. Spain, Fundacio Jaume Bofill/El Viejo Topo. Barcelona.
(2004) “De-centering the Forum: Is Another Critique of the Forum Possible?” in Jai Sen,
Anita Anand, Arturo Escobar, and Peter Waterman (eds), World Social Forum: Challenging
Empires, New Delhi: Viveka Foundation, (pp 183-190). Also in translation, published Berlin:
Karl Dietz Verlag; Malaga, Spain, El Viejo Topo.
Articles (Peer Reviewed)
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(2008 ) with Maribel Casas Cortes and Dana Powell, "Blurring Boundaries: Recognizing
Knowledge Practices in the study of Social Movements." Anthropological Quarterly, Vol 81,
No 1: 41-82.
(2004) “A cultural-political approach to reinventing the political” International Social Science
Journal, Special Issue: Explosions in Open Space: The World Social Forum and cultures of
politics. Vol. 56, No. 182, pp 495-506, December 2004. In Spanish, Chinese and Russian
versions.
(2003) “Rethinking the Political: Ethnography and the Italian New Global Movement(s)”
Anthropology in Action: Journal of Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice, Vol. 10, No.
2, pp. 31-35.
Articles (other)
(2005) “Place-Based Globalism: Theorizing the global justice movement” Development 48.2,
pp 23-28. June, 2005.
(2002) “Women Negotiating Place: A review of current feminist writings” Development 45.1,
pp148-151. Place, Politics and Justice: Women Negotiating Globalization, March 2002.
(2002) “Place and Empire” Development 45.2, pp 113-116. Globalism and the Politics of
Place, June 2002.
(2002) “The Campus Movement for Peace and Justice: One US response to September
11th” Development 45.2, pp 105-108. Globalism and the Politics of Place, June 2002.
Reviews
(2006) “Review of 'The Take'” Political Communication. Jul/Sep 2006 Vol. 23 Issue 3, p377378.
(2006) “Review of Social Movements: An Anthropological Reader” in American
Anthropologist, Vol 108, Issue 1, pp 251-252, March 2006.
Manuscripts
(Under Contract) with Graeme Chesters and Ian Welsh, Introducing Social Movement(s): A
Global Introduction, London: Routledge.
(2003) “Non Ci Capiamo Questo Movimento!: towards and ethnographic approach to the
political.” Master’s thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, UNC Chapel Hill.
(2001) “Contextualizing Universalities: A Grassroots Approach to Human Rights Organizing”
Honors thesis, Interdisciplinary Studies, UNC Chapel Hill. Magna Cum Laude.
Presentations
(select)
(2009) “Italy' s "No Global" movement: Enduring theoretical-practice, re-thinking political
effectiveness,” paper presented at SFAA, Santa Fe, New Mexico. March 17-22, 2009.
(2008) “Reframing the “Activist” Research Debate: Social Movements and KnowledgePractice,” paper presented at the American Anthropological Association Meetings, November
19-22, 2008. San Francisco, CA.
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(2007) with Graeme Chesters and Ian Welsh, “Outcome and Effect: The Complexity of
Collective Action,” and “Encountering the Forum: Agency, Subject and Space” presented at
the 8th European Sociological Association Conference, Sept 3-6, Glasgow, Scotland.
(2007) “Networked Ethnography: Towards a Different Social Movement Research” presented
at Society for the Anthropology of North America 2007 Conference “Unnatural Disasters,”
April 19-21, New Orleans.
(2006) “ Theoretical Practice: Il movimento dei movimenti and (re)inventing the political”
one of 15 papers selected from over 150 applications, presented at Cortona Colloqium
2006, Cultural Conflicts, Social Movements and New Rights: A European Challenge, October
2006, Cortona, Italy.
(2006) Theoretical Practice/Practical Theory: Technologies of Social Change, session coorganized with Jeffrey Juris, 105th American Anthropological Association, November 15-19,
San Jose California & “Theorizing Practice/Practicing Theory: Italy’s No Global Movement”
paper presented at 105th American Anthropological Association, November 15-19, San Jose
California
(2005) Ethnography, Academics/Activists, and Social Movements in an Age of Embattled
Modernity. Co-organizer of double-session panel, and presented “Blurring the Boundaries:
Knowledge Practice(s) in Contemporary Social Movements, with Maria Isabel Casas-Cortes
and Dana Powell. American Anthropological Association, Washington D.C. December.
(2004) “Place-Based Globalists: Rethinking the Global in the Alternative Globalization
Movement” paper presented at Re-envisioning Society: The State of the Nation and the
Social Imagination Central European University, Budapest, June 5, 2004, one of 20 invited
participants.
(2003)“Non Ci Capiamo Questo Movimento!” Towards an Emergent Ethnographic Approach
to the Political, paper presented at the 2003 History Matters, Social Movements: Past,
Present and Future, New School University, New York, NY, May 3, 2003.
(2002)“Against Neoliberal Globalization: Towards New Ethnographic, Theoretical and Political
Tools.” Organizer and Chair of Panel,& presented “Re-thinking Politics and Resistance: Ethnography
and the Italian “New Global” movements,” Paper presented, Anthropological Association of
America, November 2002
Professional Experience, Service & Research Groups
Co-Coordinator, APLA Graduate Student Workshop on NGO’s and Social Movements,
American Anthropological Association Meetings, San Francisco, November 2008.
Researcher/ UNC representative, for Inter-American Consortium on the study of Civil
Society and Social Movements. 2007-present.
Graduate Student Coordinator. Social Movement Working Group; coordinator 2008-present;
served as coordinator/organizer for Annual Symposiums 2006-2008: coordinated organizing
committee; developed concepts/program; helped write grants and successfully raised
approximately $35,000 cumulatively.
Graduate Student member, Admissions Committee, UNC-Dept of Anthropology, (2007).
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Graduate Senator, Graduate and Professional Student Federation, UNC Chapel Hill, (20052007). Served on appropriations committee (2005-2006).
Graduate Scribe, Assistant Copy Editor, Wenner-Gren Symposium on “World
Anthropologies”, convened by Arturo Escobar and Gustavo Lins-Ribeiro, March 2003,
Pordennone, Italy.
Founder and Co-coordinator, “Bridging the Divide: Academics, Activists and Social Justice”
Carolina Seminar Series: UNC-Chapel Hill (2001-2003)
Graduate member, Colloquium Committee, Dept of Anthropology, UNC Chapel Hill 20012002.
Research Assistant; Women and the Politics of Place, Rockefeller Foundation sponsored
project. Society for International Development. Rome, Italy. (2001).
Participant, Cultures of Economies Working Group(s), UNC-Chapel Hill; 2005-2007. I was
one of the co-founding members of the Counter Cartography Collective.
Research Assistant, Co-convenor, Cultures of Politics: Post Autonomous Politics Research
and Working Group, University Program in Cultural Studies (2006-2007).
Participant, Globalization, Modernity/Coloniality, and Alternative Knowledge Production,
Duke-UNC Working Group, 2004-2009.
Community Service and Organizing
Co-Founder & Co-Director. (2006-2009). Carrboro Greenspace: Center for Community and
Sustainability (carrborogreenspace.org). Co-created non-profit; coordinated capital gains
campaign, raised $13,000 in pledges and donations; organized community outreach and
education events, participated in local coalition building.
Editorial member, co-founder, Turbulence: Ideas for Movement (www.turbulence.org.uk).
(2006- present).
Board Member, Internationalist Books, Chapel Hill, NC (2002-2003, 2004-2006). Chair of
Programming Committee (2004-2005); Fundraiser Coordinator.
Language
skills_____________________________________________________________
Fluency in Italian; near fluency in Spanish, proficiency in Hebrew.
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